Tao
02-14-2011, 05:40 PM
Introduction
This thread is about a Black, Green and White Aether Vial deck. CorpT suggested a similar deck in the deadguy thread and his results/ideas have influenced my testing, too (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?2597-[Deck]-Deadguy-Ale-%28B-w-Confidant%29&p=519270&viewfull=1#post519270).
After testing the deck for a while now I feel that this deck might be a future Legacy staple. The raw card power is very high because it gets the best out of three colors. I think two colored version deny themselves access to power for no good reason. The Mana works fine and all colors provide unique superior effects (f.e. Swords, Thoughtseize, Tarmogoyf).
The advantages of the deck are that it reliably beats Merfolk, has no overly bad matchups and can easily adapt to any Meta.
The Core
There are many options and possibilities for it, you could easily build a 75 card deck without losing much power, so I try to determine the core of the deck. By that I mean the absolute minimum. For example when I say "4 Discard spells" that means that 7 Discard spells could be good too, but not three.
- 4 Aether Vial: Test the deck once against anything with blue cards and/or Wastelands and you will agreewith this choice.
- 4 Thoughtseize / Inquisition of Kozilek: Games with a quick Discard spell are much easier than without it but multiples are often not good and they are bad topdecks. If your Meta is Aggro, don't be ashamed to play Inquisition over TS.
- 4 Swords to Plowshares: check
- 4 Tarmogoyf: check
- 3 Mother of Runes: It is a good card that helps the curve, eats removal, dominates the combat and forces last damage through. Protecting your creatures gains even more value when you want to equip them because getting a Goyf sworded in response to equipping sucks.
- 3 Stoneforge Mystic:The card is insane with Vial. An active Vial wins games under the Countertop lock through multiple Goyfs and War Monks thanks to the green Sword, Jitte dominates Tribal, Dredge and Burn decks and Control doesn't like Swords either.
- 2 Equipment: 1 Jitte and 1 Sword of your choice is the minimum. The Mangara list finished good with only one Sword recently, only on Magic League but since this is about the minimum I go with the lowest I've seen.
- 4 Wasteland: if you play with Vial, they give you a lot of value and also up your land count to use your Equipment without getting flooded too often.
- 18 other lands: I don't think this deck can get away with only 21 lands because in the non-vial games you will have to cast your spells of three colors from your hand and that is tough with 18 lands.
Other Options
Those 46 cards are the absolute minimum of the key spells. If you play more of some of them them you might already play 52 cards so there is not much room for the plentiful other good options.
- Dark Confidant: Probably close to an auto include but i could see reasons to not play him. He is vulnerable and bad in combat because of his weak stats and that makes him a tempo bump. So if I'd see a list without Confidant I wouln't call it strictly inferior to what is possible - unlike with the cards above.
- Knight of the Reliquary: The biggest problem with 3-drops is that once your Vial is to three most of your good topdecks cost Mana again and are counterable. On the other hand KotR is probably the most powerful creature you have access too. It is usually the biggest beater on the field, finishes the game much quicker than any other card with Equipment and can also tutor Wastelands to win by Mana denial.
- Serra Avenger: A powerhouse with Equipment plus synergy with Vial.
- Qasali Pridemage: It is probably not a 4-of because it lacks power, but having a solution in your deck makes things much easier. Also with the raise of Affinity, Thopter.dec and other people playing Stoneforge Mystic it becomes better.
- Tidehollow Sculler: The guy in the deadguy thread says it is good.
- Bitterblossom: Not syergistic with Vial and the lifeloss might cause problems when combined with Fetchlands, Thoughtseizes and Confidant. On the other hand great with Equipment and a source of card advantage.
- Gaddock Teeg: A good man who forbids the omnipresent FoW, stops problem cards like Natural Order, Dread Return, Engineered Explosives, Moat and Humility and forces combo to find a solution. It is hard to find room for him, though.
- Mangara of Corondor/Karakas: This turns it more into a DaT hybrid but it is possible. The problem is both cards on their own are not very good. Mangara is just a slow Vindicate but especially having to run multiple Karakas is risky in a 3 color deck that also wants to use Wastelands.
- Vindicate: Killing Tombstalker as well as Moat is nice. On the other hand Qasali Pridemage deals with problematic Artifacts/Enchantments faster, has synergy with Vial and pressures the opponent. Also you have other ways to deal with big creatures (Swords to Plowshares, Sword with right protection to evade it) so Vindicate is probably too slow for the deck.
- Sensei's Divining Top: Very synergetic with Vial. You can spend your Mana searching for creatures because you don't have to pay Mana for them. Also good at finding SB cards.
Example Decklist
// Lands
4 [MPR] Wasteland
1 [U] Bayou
4 [U] Scrubland
1 [A] Savannah
3 [JGC] Windswept Heath
4 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
3 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
1 [TSP] Swamp (2)
1 [SOM] Plains (2)
// Creatures
4 [UL] Mother of Runes
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
4 [CHP] Serra Avenger
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
// Spells
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
3 [ROE] Inquisition of Kozilek
4 [DS] AEther Vial
4 [IA] Swords to Plowshares
1 [GPX] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [SOM] Sword of Body and Mind
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [GPX] Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 3 [M11] Duress
SB: 2 [FNM] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 [ZEN] Ravenous Trap
SB: 4 [GTW] Path to Exile
SB: 3 [SOK] Kataki, War's Wage
Discussion
- Equipment package: 3 Equipment is probably the right number. The Swords are very close to each other. I want one Sword that gives protection from Tarmogoyf and one that gives you value if unblocked.
Therefore I chose Sword of Fire and Ice because it is also the only Sword with a guaranteed good effect (plus it hoses both Tribal decks). SoLaS does nothing sometimes, SoFaF too and SoBaM sucks if you don't want to mill your opponent (Dredge, Reanimator, Loam, Sensei Top stuck with bad cards). The other Sword I choose is SoFaF because of the two Pro Green Swords it offers protection from a new color and is the best Sword against Combo. So no SoLaS despite being great sometimes.
- Mana Base: I like Horizon Canopy. Like Wasteland it lets you play more land and can protect from Mana Flood.
- Sideboard: Nothing special. Just some removal, Discard, Disenchants and Yard Hate.
This thread is about a Black, Green and White Aether Vial deck. CorpT suggested a similar deck in the deadguy thread and his results/ideas have influenced my testing, too (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?2597-[Deck]-Deadguy-Ale-%28B-w-Confidant%29&p=519270&viewfull=1#post519270).
After testing the deck for a while now I feel that this deck might be a future Legacy staple. The raw card power is very high because it gets the best out of three colors. I think two colored version deny themselves access to power for no good reason. The Mana works fine and all colors provide unique superior effects (f.e. Swords, Thoughtseize, Tarmogoyf).
The advantages of the deck are that it reliably beats Merfolk, has no overly bad matchups and can easily adapt to any Meta.
The Core
There are many options and possibilities for it, you could easily build a 75 card deck without losing much power, so I try to determine the core of the deck. By that I mean the absolute minimum. For example when I say "4 Discard spells" that means that 7 Discard spells could be good too, but not three.
- 4 Aether Vial: Test the deck once against anything with blue cards and/or Wastelands and you will agreewith this choice.
- 4 Thoughtseize / Inquisition of Kozilek: Games with a quick Discard spell are much easier than without it but multiples are often not good and they are bad topdecks. If your Meta is Aggro, don't be ashamed to play Inquisition over TS.
- 4 Swords to Plowshares: check
- 4 Tarmogoyf: check
- 3 Mother of Runes: It is a good card that helps the curve, eats removal, dominates the combat and forces last damage through. Protecting your creatures gains even more value when you want to equip them because getting a Goyf sworded in response to equipping sucks.
- 3 Stoneforge Mystic:The card is insane with Vial. An active Vial wins games under the Countertop lock through multiple Goyfs and War Monks thanks to the green Sword, Jitte dominates Tribal, Dredge and Burn decks and Control doesn't like Swords either.
- 2 Equipment: 1 Jitte and 1 Sword of your choice is the minimum. The Mangara list finished good with only one Sword recently, only on Magic League but since this is about the minimum I go with the lowest I've seen.
- 4 Wasteland: if you play with Vial, they give you a lot of value and also up your land count to use your Equipment without getting flooded too often.
- 18 other lands: I don't think this deck can get away with only 21 lands because in the non-vial games you will have to cast your spells of three colors from your hand and that is tough with 18 lands.
Other Options
Those 46 cards are the absolute minimum of the key spells. If you play more of some of them them you might already play 52 cards so there is not much room for the plentiful other good options.
- Dark Confidant: Probably close to an auto include but i could see reasons to not play him. He is vulnerable and bad in combat because of his weak stats and that makes him a tempo bump. So if I'd see a list without Confidant I wouln't call it strictly inferior to what is possible - unlike with the cards above.
- Knight of the Reliquary: The biggest problem with 3-drops is that once your Vial is to three most of your good topdecks cost Mana again and are counterable. On the other hand KotR is probably the most powerful creature you have access too. It is usually the biggest beater on the field, finishes the game much quicker than any other card with Equipment and can also tutor Wastelands to win by Mana denial.
- Serra Avenger: A powerhouse with Equipment plus synergy with Vial.
- Qasali Pridemage: It is probably not a 4-of because it lacks power, but having a solution in your deck makes things much easier. Also with the raise of Affinity, Thopter.dec and other people playing Stoneforge Mystic it becomes better.
- Tidehollow Sculler: The guy in the deadguy thread says it is good.
- Bitterblossom: Not syergistic with Vial and the lifeloss might cause problems when combined with Fetchlands, Thoughtseizes and Confidant. On the other hand great with Equipment and a source of card advantage.
- Gaddock Teeg: A good man who forbids the omnipresent FoW, stops problem cards like Natural Order, Dread Return, Engineered Explosives, Moat and Humility and forces combo to find a solution. It is hard to find room for him, though.
- Mangara of Corondor/Karakas: This turns it more into a DaT hybrid but it is possible. The problem is both cards on their own are not very good. Mangara is just a slow Vindicate but especially having to run multiple Karakas is risky in a 3 color deck that also wants to use Wastelands.
- Vindicate: Killing Tombstalker as well as Moat is nice. On the other hand Qasali Pridemage deals with problematic Artifacts/Enchantments faster, has synergy with Vial and pressures the opponent. Also you have other ways to deal with big creatures (Swords to Plowshares, Sword with right protection to evade it) so Vindicate is probably too slow for the deck.
- Sensei's Divining Top: Very synergetic with Vial. You can spend your Mana searching for creatures because you don't have to pay Mana for them. Also good at finding SB cards.
Example Decklist
// Lands
4 [MPR] Wasteland
1 [U] Bayou
4 [U] Scrubland
1 [A] Savannah
3 [JGC] Windswept Heath
4 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
3 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
1 [TSP] Swamp (2)
1 [SOM] Plains (2)
// Creatures
4 [UL] Mother of Runes
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
4 [CHP] Serra Avenger
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
// Spells
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
3 [ROE] Inquisition of Kozilek
4 [DS] AEther Vial
4 [IA] Swords to Plowshares
1 [GPX] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [SOM] Sword of Body and Mind
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [GPX] Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 3 [M11] Duress
SB: 2 [FNM] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 [ZEN] Ravenous Trap
SB: 4 [GTW] Path to Exile
SB: 3 [SOK] Kataki, War's Wage
Discussion
- Equipment package: 3 Equipment is probably the right number. The Swords are very close to each other. I want one Sword that gives protection from Tarmogoyf and one that gives you value if unblocked.
Therefore I chose Sword of Fire and Ice because it is also the only Sword with a guaranteed good effect (plus it hoses both Tribal decks). SoLaS does nothing sometimes, SoFaF too and SoBaM sucks if you don't want to mill your opponent (Dredge, Reanimator, Loam, Sensei Top stuck with bad cards). The other Sword I choose is SoFaF because of the two Pro Green Swords it offers protection from a new color and is the best Sword against Combo. So no SoLaS despite being great sometimes.
- Mana Base: I like Horizon Canopy. Like Wasteland it lets you play more land and can protect from Mana Flood.
- Sideboard: Nothing special. Just some removal, Discard, Disenchants and Yard Hate.